The world in brief

By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

Posted: February 27, 2013 at 4:02 a.m.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Yesterday and today they have been trying to go forward, but there are lots of shelling and airstrikes.” Abu al-Hassan, an activist in Aleppo, Syria, who said rebels are trying to clear the army from residential areas near a police academy before they attack it Article, this page Union chief held; Mexico cites theft MEXICO CITY — The head of Mexico’s powerful teachers’ union was arrested at an airport near Mexico City Tuesday on charges of embezzlement, with federal officials accusing her of using union funds to pay for plastic surgery, buy a house in San Diego and pay her bill at Neiman Marcus.